Gazumped in Castleknock

Markx

Had a bid accepted on a property in Castleknock on Friday and contacted the agent this morning to ask how they would like the booking deposit to be paid.

As it turned out another bidder(whose bid our bid had been accepted over) had called to the house over the weekend and offered a higher bid which was accepted.

So my question is: As a person trying to buy a house in Dublin at the moment am I better serving myself by ignoring the personal privacy of the seller and bypassing the estate agent altogether? Are many people doing this? Another chap I work with has taken to doing this, and also posting letters in the letterbox due to what he considers to be obfuscation by the estate agent, which seems to be standard practice.

The_Conductor

If other people are cutting the estate agent out of the loop- you are at an obvious disadvantage- if you're playing to a different sets of rules. The estate agent is still going to get their percentage at the end of the day- so they're not going to try to stop it either.

Its your call. Is it ethical- nope- however, people seem to have fewer and fewer ethics these days.......

Markx

As a first time buyer and having gone a significant way through the bidding twice, I am very very surprised at the way agents *are allowed* to conduct themselves. There is no transparency in the process whatsoever and in my opinion it is they who are essentially causing another housing bubble in Dublin right now.....

It is no surprise given their behaviour that people are bypassing them and hopefully it could be the first step in the change to another model in this country.

murphaph

I think if more and more people do this then hopefully sellers will eventually realise that estate agents are just parasites feeding off the transaction. This is the age of the internet. Estate agents are really redundant when it comes to selling property. Most people will check the net, not walk around looking in estate agents' windows anymore. Sure, there are limited cases where they're useful but on the whole they just suck money out of the transaction for not much really. It is clearly inefficient.

No Pants

Focus less on the method and more on the offer you're making. Does this buyer even exist? How much are you prepared to pay for this house? Could you buy another instead?

Markx

No Pants wrote: »

Focus less on the method and more on the offer you're making. Does this buyer even exist? How much are you prepared to pay for this house? Could you buy another instead?

My strategy is to decide how much I'm prepared to bid before bidding, dependent on a house in question. Not too worried about being outbid, as that can happen.

My main general issue lies with the question of whether the other buyer actually exists and the fact that there is no obstruction or disincentive to an EA fabricating another bidder in order to raise an individual price.

It would be nice(and might even make sense) if an EA was obliged to provide a record of bids to the buyers solicitor for verification.

folan

Gazumping in this instance is 100% legal, and Castleknock is in demand, so it follows that it will happen.

if you are uncomfortable attempting to contact the home owner ahead of the EA, then don't do it. Its ethically ambiguous in the first place, and you have now witnessed first hand how it makes other buyers feel.

I often wonder about home owners who allow this. why did they bother with the EA in the first place. there is plenty of scope to sell a home privately, so why bother.

Markx

folan wrote: »

I often wonder about home owners who allow this. why did they bother with the EA in the first place. there is plenty of scope to sell a home privately, so why bother.

Yeah, If I had a house to sell :pac: I'd consider arranging a few Saturday viewings myself, getting a PAYG mobile for calls and then take a week off when there was sufficient interest to deal with the bidding and negotiation, and stay away from EAs. Perhaps I'm naive and am unaware of some magic fairy dust that EAs sprinkle in the house......

Idbatterim

Most people will check the net, not walk around looking in estate agents' windows anymore. Sure, there are limited cases where they're useful but on the whole they just suck money out of the transaction for not much really. It is clearly inefficient.

I think buyers in general feel more comfortable buying through an agent, the good ones will have databases of potential buyers and should contact them, when a potential fit comes on the market, also I dont think a lot of buyers would want the face to face negotiation with the potential purchaser, its far easier with the smoke screen of the middle man and they will be used to peddling bull**** more likely. I definitely agree that the internet is where its at in terms of finding properties for the most part....

D3PO

you don't generally have face to face negotiation with an EA though its generally via phone so I don't think that's a valid point tbh.

its a business transaction weather an EA is part of it or not is and should be irrelelevent. You want to buy for x price seller wants to sell for y price. A bit of too and fro and you agree on a price.

Do you really think somebody should be scared of speaking to a seller directly ? If your too scared to deal directly with a seller an EA is going to walk all over you anyway.

If your a seller and your not prepared to be in someway insulted then your really not capable of selling your own property.

Once you go in with your eyes wide open weather your the seller or the buyer its just as if not an easier way to do things.

Personally id happily deal with a private seller over an EA if the opportunity every arose.